Rep: Grievance Against Jeremy Piven ‘Outrageous’

Published Jul 16, 2009 at 8:29 PM

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Jeremy Piven is fighting back after the Broadway producers of “Speed-the-Plow” filed a grievance against the actor for leaving the production over claims of mercury poisoning.

“The claims made by the producers of ‘Speed-the-Plow’ are absurd and outrageous,” a rep for the “Entourage” star said in a statement to Access Hollywood. “Mr. Piven’s serious medical condition has been well documented by multiple physicians. He withdrew from the play due to medical necessity on the advice of his doctors, after he was hospitalized and warned by his physicians that enforced rest was necessary in order to avoid serious medical problems.”

“His symptoms included extreme fatigue, spacial problems, difficulty remembering his lines, difficulty maintaining his balance, and an alarmingly low resting heart rate,” the rep added. “Mr. Piven followed his doctors’ advice, although his forced withdrawal from the show was an enormous personal disappointment since it was a life-long dream to perform on Broadway.”

The rep went on to add that the “Plow” producers had the opportunity to have Jeremy examined by their own doctors, and allegedly did not, as well as calling the grievance “ironic,” given that “the production failed to pay his required compensation and he has been defamed in the media by their false accusations.”

As previously reported by AccessHollywood.com, the “Plow” producers filed a grievance with the Actors’ Equity, the union which handles Broadway actors, over questions of Jeremy’s early leave. He ended his run on the production in December.

“It completely shuts you down. It feels like the heaviest bout of mono you’ve ever had in your life. You’re kind of crippled from it,” Jeremy told Access’ Billy Bush at the Golden Globes on Sunday. “I fought the good fight, my doctors propped me up and then doctor’s orders was enforced rest. That’s what I’ve been doing for a month and here I am.”